Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum has received the Japanese Convention’s October/November Participant of the Month award for the third season in a row.
Tatum made historical past when he was introduced because the winner on Tuesday, changing into the primary participant to perform the feat in three consecutive years.
The just lately topped NBA champion has loved a powerful begin to the brand new marketing campaign, averaging 28.7 factors an evening in addition to 8.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 21 video games.
Based on the greatest on-line betting websites, Tatum holds the third-best odds to win MVP at +500 – behind solely Nikola Jokic (+175) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+300).
The 26-year-old, extensively thought to be a bona fide top-five participant within the league, appears to be like to have the load of the world lifted off his shoulders following championship triumph in June and it’s taken his recreation to a brand new degree.
The Celtics path solely the Cleveland Cavaliers within the race for the NBA’s greatest document however sitting simply 1.5 video games behind, it most likely received’t be lengthy earlier than Boston leapfrog their rivals into high spot.
WATCH: The perfect of Japanese Convention Participant of the Month Jayson Tatum in October/November
The Japanese Convention @Kia Participant of the Month for October & November is Jayson Tatum! #KiaPOTM pic.twitter.com/QceXBb3RRA
— NBA (@NBA) December 3, 2024
Jayson Tatum desires to be generally known as the NBA’s high canine and he’s doing a stellar job of it
Tatum’s state of affairs is not like most different star gamers within the NBA. When he was drafted by the Celtics in 2017, he joined a crew who had been already competing for the convention title and that early success skewed some’s notion of him.
Rapidly, the narrative grew that if Tatum wasn’t successful a championship, he wasn’t worthy of the elite standing that a lot of his friends maintain – all as a result of truth he hadn’t received a hoop by the point he was 25. Sounds loopy, doesn’t it?
These had been the requirements he was held to due to how good he was as quickly as he entered the league. In 2018, the Celtics fell in Recreation 7 of the Japanese Confernce Finals to LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers and on his rookie playoff run, Tatum was in a position to go toe-to-toe with arguably the best participant ever.
In 2020, the Celtics misplaced within the Japanese Convention Finals to the Miami Warmth and two years later, they fell brief once more – however this time it was within the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors. At that time in 2022, Tatum was simply 24-years-old and had extra successful playoff expertise than virtually each participant within the league.
A five-time All-Star with three All-NBA First Workforce honors, on the age of 26 all Tatum wanted was a championship to cement his resume as one of many greats – and he did simply that in 2024 when Boston defeated the Dallas Mavericks in 5 video games within the NBA Finals.
The Celtics are the favorites as soon as once more and if they will go back-to-back with Tatum main the way in which, it is likely to be time to start out speaking about this man as not solely one of many greats – however the very best Celtic of all-time, dethroning Larry Chicken and Invoice Russell.
Following Kyrie Irving’s departure in 2019, Tatum was handed the keys to the franchise and he’s by no means regarded again. Ever since, he’s proved himself as among the best scorers within the recreation and his degree of play has continued to drastically enhance yr on yr in each class.
His playoff resume says all of it. Tatum has knocked the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jimmy Butler, Luka Doncic and Kevin Durant off their perch and he’s coming for much more, nonetheless being years away from hitting his prime.
There will likely be some very uncomfortable (for some) conversations to have when Tatum wins his second championship, and I’m more than pleased to kick them off.
